armoredman
Member
How to survive incredible stupidity.
A little background. I make no secret that I work for the Arizona Department of Corrections. One of the few bennies we get is a van pool to remote prison locations, which, in this era of $3 a gallon gas, is a HUGE bennie. We all meet at various van pool stops, and return at night. My van pool stop is less than a mile from my house, so I sometimes have the wife drop me off, to keep the family car at home. She can't leave at night, because of the child, so I can ask the van to drop me off at the house, or walk home. Usually there is no big deal about either.
But, just recently, they ripped up the road in front of my community, and traffic can go one way, going towards the van stop only. The detour is a PITA, so I have had them drop me off at the small box in the upper left corner of the picture, marked "van", at which point I walk home, about 300 yards. Whoopee, free exercise.
As I pulled over, I saw two Hispanic "youths", one carrying a plastic bag, dressed in thug fashion, at point A, headed across the road. I decided to wait a few minutes, to give them a little room, before walking down. My coworker and I shot the breeze for a few minutes, and off I went. Now, the blue circles represent the only lights in the area, it was 10:30PM, and pitch black. I could not see anyone, so continued on my way. I was in uniform, carrying my jacket over my left arm, and work duty belt over my left shoulder. That contained my OC and handcuffs. Holstered on my right side was my CZ PO1 with Crimson Trace Lasergrips, and two spare mags left side, a Uncle Mikes double mag pouch, and the old Leatherman in a front pocket.
I made it down to point B, when all systems went red. Each point marked B contained a thug, waiting in the darkness, standing looking at me. Setup. Hmm. I had to get through them to the small side street marked on the map, point C. My coworker was gone with the van. I could not cross the field to my left, as a fence cut me off from my street, and would probably make their day to chase me down in a dark field. I couldn't call for the wife to come out, nor was turning into the church parking lot, or going back a viable choice. My cellphone was deep in a pocket, the cheesy phone holder having broken the day before. Significantly, I did NOT have my flashlight, a Brinkmann compact with a bright beam. There was no reason for them to be there like that, next to a closed church, (and one in the ditch next to the dirt field marked in brown), but one, and that was to intercept me. Options open were very few, but neither had done anything illegal, yet.
So, I chose the brass ballocks approach. I kept walking, and addressed each one directly, "Good evening." The one closest answered in kind, and I got several yards down the road. I heard feet start walking. Now, in the darkness, I realized just how wonderful hearing is! I listened for two sounds, weapon being made ready to fire, or far more likely, running feet. Right hand was clear, but as I stated before, they had done nothing illegal. I heard walking feet, no laughter, no talking. Then the dadgum wind started blowing right past my ears. I never realized how much I hated the wind. I walked with head cocked slightly, to hear behind me.
When I walked up the side street, and the "others" had reached point C, I heard one say, "Get him!" I turned immediately, and saw both still walking at a normal pace down the street I had just exited, approximately 30 yards away. At this point options again presented themselves, but "You wanna start something?", "Come and get me!", or the famous "Molon Lave!" would do one thing in a court of law - prove I had escalated the situation unneccesarily. So would placing my hand on my weapon, or drawing it, both which can be prosecuted as aggravated assault, with no evidence of self defense being neccesary. I work in prison, and have NO desire to live there. So, to the dissapointment of the armchair commandos, I merely looked at them, obvously shook my head in the "these kids today!" way, and kept going. I heard the same voice urge twice more, "Get him!", and nothing happened, nor had they moved in any way towards me. There is no way they could have seen where I went next, unless they have ninja like skills, and all ended well.
Now, here's the major mistakes I made - assuming my neighborhood was safe because I have lived there for years, not having my flashlight, not leaving IN the van, instead of walking, and driving down the detour. Once I was on the road, my options, with no display of overt threat, were few, and I fully realize I placed myself there. Notice I had almost everything reccomended for armed civilians, including non lethal OC spray, which getting to would have been a PAIN, secured in a duty belt over my shoulder. I do that as I am don't wear a firearm inside the walls, and leave my rig/mags/leatherman in the gun locker up front, so the inside rig comes off, and the HBE Belt Holster goes on when it's time to go home.
Things maybe in my favor, being visibly armed, the uniform as a mild deterrance, and just possibly, the brass ballocks approach. I walk a yard with 1100 inmates, and 33 staff, so strolling through many many people who would love to kill me slowly is not a new experiance. I don't think this was a planned setup, as the one had a shopping bag in hand, and they didn't pursue it, but had I been any Joe Sixpack walking in the dark, I wonder what would have happened...
Let the Monday Morning Quarterbacking begin!
A little background. I make no secret that I work for the Arizona Department of Corrections. One of the few bennies we get is a van pool to remote prison locations, which, in this era of $3 a gallon gas, is a HUGE bennie. We all meet at various van pool stops, and return at night. My van pool stop is less than a mile from my house, so I sometimes have the wife drop me off, to keep the family car at home. She can't leave at night, because of the child, so I can ask the van to drop me off at the house, or walk home. Usually there is no big deal about either.
But, just recently, they ripped up the road in front of my community, and traffic can go one way, going towards the van stop only. The detour is a PITA, so I have had them drop me off at the small box in the upper left corner of the picture, marked "van", at which point I walk home, about 300 yards. Whoopee, free exercise.
As I pulled over, I saw two Hispanic "youths", one carrying a plastic bag, dressed in thug fashion, at point A, headed across the road. I decided to wait a few minutes, to give them a little room, before walking down. My coworker and I shot the breeze for a few minutes, and off I went. Now, the blue circles represent the only lights in the area, it was 10:30PM, and pitch black. I could not see anyone, so continued on my way. I was in uniform, carrying my jacket over my left arm, and work duty belt over my left shoulder. That contained my OC and handcuffs. Holstered on my right side was my CZ PO1 with Crimson Trace Lasergrips, and two spare mags left side, a Uncle Mikes double mag pouch, and the old Leatherman in a front pocket.
I made it down to point B, when all systems went red. Each point marked B contained a thug, waiting in the darkness, standing looking at me. Setup. Hmm. I had to get through them to the small side street marked on the map, point C. My coworker was gone with the van. I could not cross the field to my left, as a fence cut me off from my street, and would probably make their day to chase me down in a dark field. I couldn't call for the wife to come out, nor was turning into the church parking lot, or going back a viable choice. My cellphone was deep in a pocket, the cheesy phone holder having broken the day before. Significantly, I did NOT have my flashlight, a Brinkmann compact with a bright beam. There was no reason for them to be there like that, next to a closed church, (and one in the ditch next to the dirt field marked in brown), but one, and that was to intercept me. Options open were very few, but neither had done anything illegal, yet.
So, I chose the brass ballocks approach. I kept walking, and addressed each one directly, "Good evening." The one closest answered in kind, and I got several yards down the road. I heard feet start walking. Now, in the darkness, I realized just how wonderful hearing is! I listened for two sounds, weapon being made ready to fire, or far more likely, running feet. Right hand was clear, but as I stated before, they had done nothing illegal. I heard walking feet, no laughter, no talking. Then the dadgum wind started blowing right past my ears. I never realized how much I hated the wind. I walked with head cocked slightly, to hear behind me.
When I walked up the side street, and the "others" had reached point C, I heard one say, "Get him!" I turned immediately, and saw both still walking at a normal pace down the street I had just exited, approximately 30 yards away. At this point options again presented themselves, but "You wanna start something?", "Come and get me!", or the famous "Molon Lave!" would do one thing in a court of law - prove I had escalated the situation unneccesarily. So would placing my hand on my weapon, or drawing it, both which can be prosecuted as aggravated assault, with no evidence of self defense being neccesary. I work in prison, and have NO desire to live there. So, to the dissapointment of the armchair commandos, I merely looked at them, obvously shook my head in the "these kids today!" way, and kept going. I heard the same voice urge twice more, "Get him!", and nothing happened, nor had they moved in any way towards me. There is no way they could have seen where I went next, unless they have ninja like skills, and all ended well.
Now, here's the major mistakes I made - assuming my neighborhood was safe because I have lived there for years, not having my flashlight, not leaving IN the van, instead of walking, and driving down the detour. Once I was on the road, my options, with no display of overt threat, were few, and I fully realize I placed myself there. Notice I had almost everything reccomended for armed civilians, including non lethal OC spray, which getting to would have been a PAIN, secured in a duty belt over my shoulder. I do that as I am don't wear a firearm inside the walls, and leave my rig/mags/leatherman in the gun locker up front, so the inside rig comes off, and the HBE Belt Holster goes on when it's time to go home.
Things maybe in my favor, being visibly armed, the uniform as a mild deterrance, and just possibly, the brass ballocks approach. I walk a yard with 1100 inmates, and 33 staff, so strolling through many many people who would love to kill me slowly is not a new experiance. I don't think this was a planned setup, as the one had a shopping bag in hand, and they didn't pursue it, but had I been any Joe Sixpack walking in the dark, I wonder what would have happened...
Let the Monday Morning Quarterbacking begin!